Some years, flu shots only reduce the risk of illness by as little as 20% to 30%. Messenger RNA technology, or mRNA, is widely seen as a promising way to improve their efficacy, partly because it can be updated more quickly to match circulating strains.
New results published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine found Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine gave more protection against illness than the standard flu shot in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The results — which showed the mRNA shot performed about 27% better — could help bolster the vaccine’s chances of approval after the Food and Drug Administration rejected Moderna’s original submission earlier this year.
No mRNA-based flu vaccine has been approved anywhere in the world. Moderna’s flu and Covid shots share the same mRNA technology.
“These are strong results, and would likely make it hard for the FDA to refuse in a way that withstands arbitrary and capricious review,” said Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy expert at the University of California Law San Francisco.
Developing an mRNA shot is faster, which allow officials to make decisions later in the year — and give drugmakers the ability to pivot if the circulating strain changes.
